Pittsburgh Sakura Project shares piece of Japanese culture in Allegheny County

OF VOLUNTEERSHE T BEAUTY FOUND IT PAVILION 91 AT NORTH PARK COURTESY OF THE PTSBUITRGH SAKURA PROJECT. IN THE PROJECT IS TO BRING. THE JAPANESE FLOWERING CHERRIES GROVES OF THEM TO PITTSRGBUH CKBA IN 2007 MEMBERS OF PITTSBURGH’S JAPANESE COMMUNITY MADE A PROPOSAL TO ALLEGHENY COUNTY TO PLANT THE GROVES AFTER LOOKING AT SEVALER LOCATIONS NORTH PARK WAS SELECTED AND WE LOOKED AT THE LAKE. AND THE PINE TREES AND WE THOUGHT COULDN’T BE MORE. FUNNY EVERY SPRINGTIME NEAR NORTH PARK LAKE YOU WILL FIND THE BEAUTIFUL PINK BLOSSOMS OF JAPANESE FLOWERING CHERRIES THE IDEA TO BRING THE TREES TO PITTSBURGH ORIGINATED WITH FUMIO. YAZUZAWA. HE ARRIVED IN THE UNIDTE STATES IN 1975 AS A CHEF. HE CAME TO PITTSBURGH IN THE 90S EVENTUALLY OPENING UP HIS OWN RESTAURANT. SEE MISSED THE CHERRY TREES AND YOU TEDRI HIMN I HIS BACKYARD. AND THEN HE SAID HE’D BEEN HERE IN AMERICA MANY YEARS AND WANTED TO GIVE SOMETHING BACK DURING THE FIRST. DING 2009 MORE THAN GOOD PEOPLE VOLUNTEERED WHEN THEY TOOK AN AERIAL PHOTO. YEAH, SO IT’S KIND OF NICE TO SEE IT BECAUSE YOU CAN SEE NO TREES JTUS THE 20 THAT WERE PLANTED THAT YEAR. THE PCTJERO HAS PLANTED AND MAINTAINED 413 TESRE64 2 OF THEM ARE SEVERAL VARIETIES OF CHERRY TREES WHEN THE ONES ACROSS ALL PINK ACROSS THE LAKE AND PINK ON THIS SIDE AND YOU SEE THE REFLECTION THE CHERRY BLOSSOM OR KURA HAS DEEP MEANING IN JAPANESE CULTURE SYMBOLINGZI MANY THINGS INCLUDING LIFE DEATH AND RENEWAL.INCLUDING LIFE DEATH I FEEL REAITLLY BRINGS. A CULTALUR UNDERSTANDING AND FOR PEOPLE LIKE ME AT THIRD GENERATION JAPANESE AMERICAN IT WAS A CHANCE TO RELATE TO PEOPLE FROM JAPAN. HEY, WE HOPE THEY COME OUT AND ESEHE T BEAUTY OF NATURE AND IN BEAUTY AND ITS TRANSITORYNESS AND ALSO UNDERSANDHE T GREAT GIFT OF CROSS-CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING AND WE SEE PEOEPL FROM ALL DIFFERENT GENERATIONS. COME HERE AND FIND PART OF THEIR JAPANESENESS. IT’S A PJECTRO THEY HOPE LIVES ON LONG AFTER THEY ARE GONE. SO THAT OTHERS WILL CARRY ON THEIR PASSI ANDON CULTURE. HOPEFULLY YOUNG GENERATION. WE REPLACE LIKE OLDER ONELIS KE MEND A ALL YOU KNOW THAT THAT IS OUR HOPE AND AS A LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT, WE CONSIDER THIS TO BE OUR LEGACY PROJECT. WITH THAT KEEPING THAT IN MIND ATTH THE TREES WILL BE HERE LONG AFTER US AND IT’S ’ST' A REALLY GOOD FEELING ALL OF PITTSBURGHERSAN C CAN ENJOY THE BEAUTY START THEIR OWN TRADITIONS. OF SPENDING TIMEND UER THE TREES AND FLOWERS SUCH A GIFT OF BEAUTY RIGHT THERE THE PITTSBURGH SAKURA PROJECT. THERE’S ALWAYS LOOKING FOR VOLUNT. WHEN IT COMES TO PLANTING TIME IF YOU’RE INTERESTED, YOU CAN REACH OUT TO. THE PITTSBURGH SECOR PROCTJEN

You don't have to drive very far to take in a special part of Japanese culture in Western Pennsylvania.The Pittsburgh Sakura Project has spent more than a decade planting and maintaining hundreds of cherry trees in North Park.The project began in 2007 when members of Pittsburgh's Japanese community brought a proposal to Allegheny County to plant groves in a county park.After considering several locations, North Park was selected."We looked at the lake and the pine trees and we thought, it couldn't be more Japanese," said Kary Arimoto-Mercer, landscape architect for the project.The group describes Fumio Yasuzawa as its "founding father." He came to the United States from Japan in 1975 as a chef. He arrived in Pittsburgh in the 1990s, eventually opening his own restaurant."He missed cherry trees, and tried it in his backyard, and said he'd been here in America for many years and wanted to give something back," board member Carol Tenny said.The group started planting the trees in 2009. Since then, the Pittsburgh Sakura Project has planted more than 400 trees, and 264 of them are a variety of cherry trees.The cherry blossom, or "Sakura," has deep meaning in Japanese culture--- symbolizing many things ranging from life, death and renewal."I think it really brings a cultural understanding," Arimoto-Mercer said. "And for people like me, a third-generation Japanese American, it was a chance to relate to people from Japan."If you'd like to learn more about the Pittsburgh Sakura Project or are interested in volunteering, you can contact the organization through its Facebook page.

PITTSBURGH —

You don't have to drive very far to take in a special part of Japanese culture in Western Pennsylvania.

The Pittsburgh Sakura Project has spent more than a decade planting and maintaining hundreds of cherry trees in North Park.

The project began in 2007 when members of Pittsburgh's Japanese community brought a proposal to Allegheny County to plant groves in a county park.

After considering several locations, North Park was selected.

"We looked at the lake and the pine trees and we thought, it couldn't be more Japanese," said Kary Arimoto-Mercer, landscape architect for the project.

The group describes Fumio Yasuzawa as its "founding father." He came to the United States from Japan in 1975 as a chef. He arrived in Pittsburgh in the 1990s, eventually opening his own restaurant.

"He missed cherry trees, and tried it in his backyard, and said he'd been here in America for many years and wanted to give something back," board member Carol Tenny said.

The group started planting the trees in 2009. Since then, the Pittsburgh Sakura Project has planted more than 400 trees, and 264 of them are a variety of cherry trees.

The cherry blossom, or "Sakura," has deep meaning in Japanese culture--- symbolizing many things ranging from life, death and renewal.

"I think it really brings a cultural understanding," Arimoto-Mercer said. "And for people like me, a third-generation Japanese American, it was a chance to relate to people from Japan."

If you'd like to learn more about the Pittsburgh Sakura Project or are interested in volunteering, you can contact the organization through its Facebook page.

Pittsburgh Sakura Project shares piece of Japanese culture in Allegheny County

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